On July 24 1991 a one-year-old plus British boy called Ben Needham went missing on the Greek Island of Kos. To this day his whereabouts remain unknown.

Friday it is the 24th anniversary.

Ben's young mother Kerry received a fair amount of bad press when her young son went missing and little if any help from politicians of the day who dismissed her as a party-loving young woman.

How different it was when Madeline McCann went missing on May 3 2007. Madeline McCann has been kept in the news by her father and campaigners but was it because he had links to former UK PM Gordon Brown why they were treated with kid gloves.

That is what should have happened to Kerry Needham and her family however they are just an ordinary working class family from the north of England.

On the 24th anniversary social media will push missing Ben Needham into the forefront of people's thoughts in the UK, Greece and elsewhere.

The family believe he was abducted and will stop at nothing to bring him back home.

They have faced many disappointments down the years but show great strength of character time and time again.

If Ben is alive as his loved ones believe perhaps this could be the year he is reunited with his Mum, siblings and others.

The Yorkshire Evening Post reporting on the social media event has the following to say:

The official Facebook page "Help Find Ben Needham" said it would be posting pictures throughout the day - including a special photograph at the time Ben went missing - to help raise awareness. The campaign is also urging people to sign up to a Thunderclap, which will post an appeal about Ben's case on supporters' Facebook and Twitter accounts at midnight.More than 1,700 people had signed up to the event, which is expected to be seen by more than 1,250,000 people.People were also being urged to change their profile pictures to one showing a photograph of Ben as a 21-month-old alongside an artist's impression of what he would look like now.A post on the Help Find Ben Needham page said: " As today is the 24th anniversary of Ben's disappearance, we will be sharing various pictures throughout the day.

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